New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe returns to her beloved Isle of Palms to tell the poignant, charming story of two women, one summer, and one very special beach house.

When Cara Rutledge rents out her quaint beach house on Isle of Palms to Heather Fordham for the entire summer, it’s a win-win by any standard: Cara’s generating income necessary to keep husband Brett’s ecotourism boat business afloat, and anxiety-prone Heather, an young artist who’s been given a commission to paint birds on postage stamps, has a quiet space in which to work and tend to her pet canaries uninterrupted.

It isn’t long, however, before both women’s idyllic summers are altered irrevocably: the alluring shorebirds—and the man who rescues them—begin to draw Heather out of the shell she’s cultivated toward a world of adventure, and maybe even love; at the same time, Cara’s life reels with sudden tragedy, and she wishes only to return to the beach house that had once been her port amidst life’s storms. When Heather refuses to budge from her newfound sanctuary, so begins the unlikeliest of rooming situations. While they start out as strangers, as everything around the women falls apart they learn that the only thing they can really rely on is each other.

And, like the migrating shorebirds that come to the island for the summer, these two women of different generations must rediscover their unique strengths so by summer’s end they, too, can take flight in ways they never imagined possible.

Review
Cara decides to rent out her mother’s beach house on the Isle of Palms. To be honest, she needs the money. Cara and her husband are in debt and need some relief. Heather is an introvert and needs a place to paint for her latest commission. It’s a win-win situation, until it’s not!

This is a sequel to The Beach House. I do recommend reading that one first, just so you can understand Cara and her attachment to the beach house a little better.

To me, Beach House for Rent is not quite as good as the first book. I had a difficult time relating to Heather. She came off as more spoiled than damaged! She is an introvert(which I totally relate to) but she has major insecurity. However, I didn’t feel very much empathy for her. I do not know if the writing did not take me there or if it was my hold up…probably me. She did not get better as the book moved along.

Just because I didn’t like Heather does not mean I did not like the book. The story develops a major twist and this affects Cara’s life. She moves back into the beach house with Heather. This is where the story becomes what it was meant to be!

What is it about MAM’s books? They are so calming. It is like coming home. Her settings are so charming and the stories surrounding these settings just keep you coming back for more!